Why a Samuel Beckett first edition, an €8K Rolex and a Flatley foot painting are held in a Government safe

TAOISEACH Micheál Martin’s department is sitting on €30,000 worth of high-priced gifts that are deemed too expensive to keep.

An official log of high-value items obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) reveals various taoisigh and the current Ceann Comhairle have received 11 gifts that had to be surrendered under Dáil ethics rules.

The items include a painting by dancer Michael Flatley, a €7,700 Rolex watch, a Samuel Beckett first edition and a bust of JFK.

Under ethics rules governing the receipt of gifts, people in high public office are not allowed to accept a present that is worth more than €650 due to the risk of corruption.

In May 2011, former Taoiseach Enda Kenny had to surrender a present from then US President Barack Obama because it was valued at €1,500. The silkscreen print by US artist Alex Katz was one of 50 in a limited edition called Marigold, according to the department’s log.

Mr Kenny also had to hand over a ‘mounted silk-like painting’ entitled Prosperous Scene of Suzhou, given

11 gifts have had to be surrendered under rules

by then Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in February 2012, after it was valued at €800.

And in the same month Mr Kenny had to forgo the gift of a bust of JFK presented by the John F Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston after the Department of the Taoiseach estimated its value at €2,000.

One of the more valuable gifts on the list is a painting by dancer Michael Flatley called An Ocras Mór – the Great Hunger, which has been valued at €5,000.

It was presented to Mr Kenny in February 2013, with the value based on the sale of Flatley’s first piece of art for €5,600.

In June 2013, a Colleen 14-inch crystal vase valued at around €800 was handed over for department safekeeping after being given by the Kennedy family.

There were no more high-value gifts until 2015 when Mr Kenny was presented with an €800 photographic print called The Boreen by Kim Haughton.

It is the only one of the gifts originally held by the department that has since been handed over to the Office of Public Works for inclusion in the State art collection.

In May 2015, Mr Kenny was presented with a €6,800 handmade piece of embroidery, called Sunrise at Mount Huangshan, by the Chinese premier Li Keqiang, according to the records.

A month later, another high-value gift, this time a framed ceramic clock valued at at least €1,000, given by the Speaker of the Islamic Parliament of Iran had to be surrendered.

Another valuable gift in the log was an engraving of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican given by Pope Francis to then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, during the papal visit in August 2018. It has been valued ‘in excess of €650’ but no further detail has been provided as to its worth.

One of the more controversial items is a €7,700 Rolex watch that was given to the Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl, on an official trip to the UAE in 2018.

Mr Ó Fearghaíl has requested that the watch be sold and the proceeds donated to the charity Trócaire. However, it is still in a safe in the Taoiseach’s department.

The most recent high-value gift on the list is a first edition of Samuel Beckett’s Comment C’est, or How It Is, from 1961, which was given to Taoiseach Micheál Martin during the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron last August. It has been valued at a cool €3,850.

The Ethics in Public Office Act means the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, any minister or minister of state, the Ceann Comhairle, the Cathaoirleach or their deputies cannot accept gifts of over €650 unless from a ‘friend or relative’. Gifts below that value can be accepted unless there is the possibility of violating other rules preventing corruption.

Presents from foreign delegations or tokens of thanks for a speech are ‘generally [considered] acceptable’, according to the rules.

An information note on gift policy says: ‘The Corruption Offences Act provides that a gift given to an official by or on behalf of a person with an interest in the office holder’s functions is presumed to be given and received corruptly. Such gifts are therefore prohibited.’

Tokens considered ‘generally acceptable’